The Copenhagen Initiative

Partnership for a good climate in society and nature

This initiative is to build capacity for good governance of climate protection through intercultural cooperation and leadership. We need a public and civic partnership for a good climate in society and nature. This is our objective. To achieve this objective, we need to accelerate the process of international and intercultural cooperation on climate protection through all available peaceful means.

Let us first draw on common sense and collective wisdom to see where we stand today and what we need to do:

"Climate is considered as a common good and the common responsibility of all people. As members of one human family, we should work together as a matter of urgency towards finding common solutions and appropriate forms of governance at local, regional, national, European and international levels to combat climate change...

Good governance of climate protection should promote intergenerational solidarity in combating the effects of climate change by drawing on wisdom, creativity and human resources of citizens, civil society, businesses, the scientific community, governments and international actors during the processes of preparation, decision making and implementation of effective strategies on climate protection." (Conclusions on Governance at the Citizens' AGORA at the European Parliament, 12 - 13 June 2008)

"If [we] do not act on time, all of us would become leaders and citizens of failed states, because we would be failing in our sacred duty to protect this planet on which we all live. Science leaves us with no choice for inaction now." (R. K. Pachauri, IPCC Chairman at the UN, 22 September 2009)

"If the whole world comes to Copenhagen and leaves without making the needed political agreement, then I think it's a failure that is not just about climate. Then it's the whole global democratic system not being able to deliver results in one of the defining challenges of our century."(Connie Hedegaard, COP15 President, interview on 7 December 2009)

On 7 December 2009, the opening day of the Copenhagen Conference, 56 newspapers in 45 countries published a common editorial asking governments of the world " ...not to hesitate, not to fall into dispute, not to blame each other but to seize opportunity from the greatest modern failure of politics. This should not be a fight between the rich world and the poor world, or between east and west. Climate change affects everyone, and must be solved by everyone."

As these quotes demonstrate, governments of the world need help from people to do what their job is: to rise to the challenge of climate change and to save human life and the planet that carries and defends our life as one human family.

This initiative is to build capacity for good governance of climate protection through intercultural cooperation and leadership. We need a public and civic partnership for a good climate in society and nature. This is our objective. To achieve this objective, we need to accelerate the process of international and intercultural cooperation on climate protection through all available peaceful means.

Today, we initiate two ways to do this:

Firstly, we have to inspire, facilitate and effectively communicate best examples and practices of public and civic cooperation on climate protection that will help preventing or resolving intercultural conflicts, positively influence community relations and strengthen economic, social and political capacity to adapt to and mitigate adverse effects of climate change.

Secondly, we have to organize and effectively communicate local, European and world public opinion in defence of younger generations and those people who are already loosing their livelihood like land, food and water. We have to secure for these people, who are personally first and foremost affected by adverse effects of climate change, a leadership role in organizing and effectively communicating public opinion.

We propose two frameworks to work towards our objective: Good Climate Clubs and Public Opinion Parties.

Good Climate Clubs will be ongoing resources of collective wisdom and problem solving through creative cooperation between people at places of ethnic, religious or cultural diversity and in cyberspace. The Clubs will put in the core of intercultural cooperation the expected imminent local, national, European and global consequences of climate change. These consequences are perceived as common challenges that enable and urge people of otherwise different or conflicting interests to work together for shared interests and values. 'Good climate' is a dual objective of improving the natural climate and the social climate. The Clubs will help the rise of new and realistic ideas and a generation of real-time civic intercultural leadership that will also engage otherwise often passive parts of the population, youth and minorities in particular.

Public Opinion Parties (POP) will be held in diverse cities and areas on specific challenges of climate and diversity to organize and effectively communicate real time public opinion toward decision makers and encourage cooperation of citizens in the implementation of related decisions. POP will be events of fun and focus and they will be organized by Good Climate Clubs, where they come to existence, and by groups of citizens and their partner organizations where Good Climate Clubs do not, or not yet, exist.

This initiative, in accordance with the Citizens AGORA conclusions on governance (quoted earlier), calls on citizens, civil society, business, the scientific community, governments and international organizations to cooperate in establishing local and world-wide partnerships for a good climate in society and nature. We plan to start the work right after the end of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in December 2009.